When Steve's pulse was high and blood pressure low yet again this morning, in addition to some other worrying symptoms, I was not surprised that my call for advice yielded yet another instruction to head for the Emergency Room. This time the preliminary tests suggested congestive heart failure, with a possibility of pulmonary embolism—the latter of which for various reasons it seemed impractical to explore further.
Oncologist and social worker came to our ER bed to confer with us, and the conclusion was that Steve is far too weak to qualify for any further chemotherapy. We had sort of seen this coming, and before long had agreed that hospice care at home would be our best next step. When Steve asked the oncologist if he could hazard a guess at what sort of time frame we should expect, the doctor said that though of course we never know for sure, he thought it would be good if the children came now.
So, Melissa arrived around 7:20 and visited with me and Steve in the overnight-observation unit where he is staying until the hospice facilities can get set up here at the house tomorrow. She will pick Matt up at the airport shortly, and Steve will come home tomorrow morning. His brother Dennis will come tomorrow evening. Then we'll see what happens next, and how soon. And we'll let you know.
Thanks again for all of your support through this experience.
